The Edge of Darkness
by toxicjade
Summary: When Nico senses a cheating of death somewhere in England, he sets off to discover what it is, since it's not like he has anything better to do, other than tell everyone that this IS NOT SLASH. Thank you for your cooperation. Rated T 'cause I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

"I hate you, but I can't stay away from you. What is this power you have over me?"

Nico rolled his eyes at the Aphrodite cabin's dramatic confessions of love. It was obviously staged to look casual, but confessions of love can't be casual, especially when the confession is being performed outside the amphitheater. Nico sulked away, cloaked in shadow, trying his best not to be seen by Chiron, who insisted Nico be "a part of all camp proceedings", and "associate with other campers". The grass underfoot was soft and springy, making his sneaking easier. He strolled into the forest, blocking the enthusiastic cheers from the camp grounds and instead focusing on shadow sight. Shadow sight was something he had only recently discovered. A rare magic, it showed a child of Hades where death was being cheated, where one was concealing darkness. He concentrated on the shadows around him, drawing the power into his hands, and then releasing it, speaking an incantation:

"Umbrae mortis, non esse palliatus," darkness flowed from his lips as he spoke the words. A globe of darkness was formed around him.

"Map layout." He said. A robotic female voice answered,

"World, Country, or State?"

World, and can you please stop sounding like my voicemail? I thought I changed the voice to 'Jack, Australian'."

"Did you say 'World class jackass Australian?" Nico groaned.

"Did you say 'Guttural House'?"

"No, you stupid, idiotic little, little, arghh!" growled Nico.

"I'm sorry, 'No you stupid hjkaloeruaggg' is not in your contacts."

"Not in my contacts? What? Wait, are you my cell phone?" there was a rustling behind him, and Nico turned to look. Two girls were standing there, pointing and whispering. Nico realized that since only extremely powerful demigods could sense shadow and the presence of the underworld, the girls probably saw him standing alone in a clearing talking to…no one. As if his reputation wasn't bad enough already, he was now going to have 'crazier than we thought, talks to self' in those files the Aphrodites kept in their cabin. He sighed and suppressed the urge to shoo the girls away with a flyswatter. He probably had one in his pockets. Those underworld flies could be a real pain. Nico didn't realize until the girls started screaming that he was surrounded by shadow wraiths- they often surfaced when strong emotion mixed with any type of underworld power. In this case, the emotion was extreme annoyance.

"Go away," he told the wraiths. "Go eat dirt or flamingoes or whatever you do in your spare time." They looked offended, but one of them smiled, as if Nico had given it a fabulous idea.

"Oh, Gods, what have I done?" he demanded of the sky, watching the wreaths dissolve into the darkness.

000-000-ooo-000-000

Harry rolled over, awoken from a deep sleep. A vague beeping echoed through the dormitory, and there was a chorus of groans from the awakening boys. Ron rolled over and found himself on his nightstand, while Seamus fell off his bed in his desperation to turn off the alarm.

"MAKE IT STOP!" Seamus was patting the ground, as if the off button on the alarm would just be lying around. Harry rose with a grunt and joined the others in the search for the source of the beeping. Ten minutes later, the alarm was louder and they were still looking. Ron muttered angrily to himself as Dean stumbled over him. Harry staggered to the window- perhaps the alarm was outside? But Neville was already there. And he was screaming.


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark, cruel, a shadow of life. It was the most frightening thing Neville had ever seen; worse than anything he could imagine. It was so _dark_, so _horrible_. And it was _beeping._ He couldn't stop screaming until his mouth was covered by Seamus, eyes half closed in sleep.

"Beeping's bad enough, Nev, just-" Seamus was forced to stop talking at this point, because he had seen the shadow _thing_ and his mouth was now occupied by screaming, and his hand that was previously clamming Neville's mouth shut was now clutching Neville's face in fear. Harry had absolutely no idea what was going on, because Ron's flailing arms had knocked off his glasses. However, he was confident that whatever they were screaming about couldn't be _that _bad. After all, he had defeated Voldemort several times over. Harry stood and looked out the window, prepared to heroically conquer whatever his dorm mates were screaming about.

_It's probably Dobby,_ He thought, until he saw the dark thing, at which point all rational thought flew from his brain and he screamed. Luckily, everyone else was screaming as well, so no one noticed his non-heroic moment. Dean ran up to Harry and shook his shoulders violently.

"Merlin's _Beard _Harry, do something! You're the chosen one!" Dean's eyes were huge and crazed.

Harry cleared his throat loudly. No one heard him, since they were all screaming.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled as loud as he could. His voice cracked. "They can smell fear, so we have to stay as quiet as possible," Harry didn't actually know if this was correct, and it didn't even make sense, but it had sounded better in his head. Luckily, the boys followed his example.

The alarm was still beeping.

They stared at the thing, shaking with fear.

A bead of sweat rolled down Neville's forehead.

"Are those….flamingo feathers?"

"NO! NO! STOP,"

"I'm sorry, 'No! No! Hair Removal system' is currently out of stock. Call next week for a special discount!" Nico glared. And glared. He was hoping the system would short circuit from the intensity of his glower, so he continued to glare.

"Are you still there?" the shadow sight lady inquired. Percy laughed.

"This is ALL your fault Percy, so you better shut your mouth," he said darkly. And it was all Percy's fault, technically. Nico had just gotten the shadow sight lady to shut up, and he had located a high concentration of living death in parts of England, a huge amount in a remote location of Scotland. So he had asked the shadow sight software to zoom in. There was a school called Hogwarts, apparently, and the death was located in one of the dorm rooms. Percy had interrupted when the map was beeping, letting Nico know that it had located the death. Nico had been yanked out of his focus by Percy banging on the dome of shadow.

"Nico! Nico! That Aphrodite girl! You know, the blonde one? She was…Woah, what are you doing?" At this point Nico had turned around and the shadow sight software got really confused. And when Percy asked,

"What's that beeping location thingy?" Nico lost his concentration and accidentally set of an alarm at the location on the map.

So now, whoever was avoiding his dad would be suspicious.

"This 'beeping location thingy' is where I have to go. And you, Percy Jackson, are coming with me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, but I've had writer's block. I know this chapter really sucks, but it's kind of a filler chapter until Hogwarts. Also, let me know what houses you guys think Percy and Nico should be in. I'm just uploading this really quick before doing my homework, so I don't have time to mention everyone, but thank you so so so so much to everyone who reviewed, and all the people who put me on their alerts and favorites lists. Thank you guys SO much! Well, anyway, forgive me for the horrid chapter, I just wanted to let you guys know I'm still alive. **

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><p>"Wait…what? Where are we going? Is this, like, a vacation resort? I'm so honored that you would choose me as one of the lucky winners to take a trip to Hawaii!"<p>

Nico sighed. Sometimes he thought the war had had adverse effects on Percy's brain, though the Aphrodite files would suggest he wasn't really one to talk. Either way, he needed backup, and, mentally challenged or not, Percy was one of the most powerful demigods ever born.

Nico was jerked out of his thoughts by a rustling in the bushes. His hand went to his sword, darkness drifting away from the blade as he pulled it from its hidden strap. He glanced at Percy, noticing his guarded expression and the way his eyes darted back and forth, searching for the slightest danger. Percy looked over. Understanding passed between the two of them and they stepped back to back, their weapons held out in front of them. They faced the bush, blades glinting.

A bunny jumped out.

"Gods. Really? I didn't even know there were bunnies in this forest," Nico said. Percy shook his head, letting his sword fall against his leg.

"Do you think we should give it some Trix?"

Nico grinned at Percy's ridiculous question. They looked at each other. Then, in unison,

"Silly rabbit! Trix is for kids!" The two burst into laughter.

"For…for KIDS," Percy gasped.

"Silly rabbit!" shouted Nico between guffaws, pointing at the rabbit by the bushes. The ADHD was obviously kicking in as their adrenaline faded. Then a deep voice echoing through the clearing stopped their giggling.

"Hello there,"

They turned slowly, hands gripping their swords. The bunny was growing rapidly, and a razor sharp horn spiraled out of its head as claws extended from its paws.

"_Styx!_"

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><p>The beeping still hadn't stopped. And the thing had flamingo feathers on it. Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh or scream. Unfortunately, or fortunately, when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a frightened squeak.<p>

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><p>Nico swung his sword, but there was no need. Shadow wraiths had conveniently appeared, so he put them to work annoying someone else for once; namely the unicorn-bunny thing.<p>

It tried to bat them away with its huge paws while Nico and Percy looked at each other, knowing their battle plan in a single glance. Percy leapt at the bunny from the side while Nico jumped up and chopped off its horn. It fell on Percy's head.

"Ow! Shit!"

"Sorry!"

"Apology NOT accepted!"

"I said sorry!"

Percy nodded at Nico and they stabbed the bunny in unison. Nico was surprised it wasn't speaking. Usually monsters gave what they thought was a witty remark right before they got killed. Apparently Percy was thinking the same thing.

"Do you talk?" The bunny opened its mouth to talk, but the Shadow Wraiths rushed into its throat, speeding up its death. It exploded in a shower of dust, leaving behind only its horn. Nico picked it up and examined the words along its side.

"Black and Decker." A shadow wraith settled in front of him.

"I have alerted the location's citizens," it rasped in Greek.

"Your voice is weird," Percy said as he capped Riptide.

"Shut up, Percy! I told you to alert _me_, not the location people! Now they know we're after them. Dammit! Go back to Hades." Nico snapped.

"As you wish, my Lord,"

The shadows dissipated.

"Come on," Nico sighed. "Let's go talk to Chiron."

* * *

><p>Chiron was giving Nico an odd look.<p>

"Your problem is...intriguing,"

"Isn't it just?" Nico scowled.

Chiron smiled patiently at Nico and Percy.

"What are you planning on doing, my dear boys?"

Nico looked at him blankly. "Well, that's kind of why we came to see you."

"Ah," Chiron nodded in apparent understanding. "I see."

Percy looked up from examining the nacho cheese maker.

"Yes, Nico, please do tell me what you are planning. Because I still have no idea what's going on,"

Nico sighed. A shadow wraith emerged from his shoe.

"What the hell? Get out! Go _away_!"

Chiron raised his eyebrows.

"Nico, my boy. Start from the beginning."

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><p><strong>Okay, so apparently I never uploaded chapter 3? So I am uploading it now. Aren't you lucky? Two chapters at once!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Heeeeyy guys! I'm really, really, really sorry about the delay. My muse left me for a guy in my class and inspired him to shamelessly and pathetically flirt with me. I told him I had a boyfriend. If he asks who it is, I'm telling him his name is Nico and he's a sexy Italian bad boy. Yeah, he's part of a gang called The Demigods. And he has a really hot bod. No, I'm not a gay guy, I'm a girl. Not that I have anything against gay people. **

**If you didn't know before, Siri is an electronic personal assistant on the new Iphone. Like, she talks to you. Oh, yeah and if you're wondering why Nico has mood swings/random outbursts, it's the ADHD. And that actually does happen if you have ADHD. I speak from personal experience. Its why I get so damn off topic. ANYWAY, ENJOY!**

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><p>Nico dodged a flying pomegranate as he walked to his father's library, on Chiron's insistence that he figure out from the source exactly what was going on. There was a girly scream in the background, which prompted Nico to turn around and see a random girl in the mouth of Cerberus. He ignored her pleading voice, quite valiantly, if you were to ask him. After all, he had a dark reputation to uphold. And the girl's voice was really whiny. He continued up the path, kicking aside several evil souls and upsetting quite a few world domination plans in the process. He shooed aside a killer fly guarding he main door to the library. The doors opened and he scanned the list of departments. Death hearings, Unlawful murder, Interspecies Murder, Alternate Universe Deaths…<p>

"What is all this? Where's accounting? Accounting, accounting, ah! Level 543," Nico stopped another death fly.

"Uh, I need the rabbit hole to level 543." When the fly had gotten over the fact that it was speaking to the boss's son, and finished all of its bowing and stuttering, it directed Nico to the hallway on the left. Nico thanked it, remembering his manners, and proceeded through the dark hallway. He reached a door labeled "Rabbit Holes". He went in. A steward dressed in black bowed to him, and continued to do so for two minutes. Nico examined his nails.

"Ah, my Lord, please follow me this way to the rabbit hole for the 500 levels,"

Nico followed the steward past Wonderland, Exit to Wonderland, and Alice Highway. So Alice hadn't been crazy. Nico had always assumed she'd eaten some mushrooms or something. The steward's shrill speech jerked him out of his wonderings about wonderland mushrooms being more potent than normal ones.

"Please enter the hole, my Lord, and enjoy the ride."

Nico tried and failed to ignore how wrong this sounded. He glanced at the steward, seeing if he had noticed the accidental innuendo. The gleam in the man's eyes made Nico wonder how accidental it had been. The steward leered at him, waggling his eyebrows. Nico jumped into the hole as quickly as possible.

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><p>Harry was in shock that his Patronus hadn't worked when it had finally occurred to him that perhaps the black being was a dementor cousin or something. He was also recovering from the shock he had received when Dean told him that all four of his dormmates had already cast several potent spells, none of them having any effect.<p>

Dean was looking at Harry, wondering how it was possible not to notice corporeal patronuses flying all around you, along with dangerous curses and hexes. Seamus was looking at Harry as if he had gone crazy.

Sorry, crazi_er_.

The boys' attention was drawn away from Harry, however, when they noticed the dementor-cousin thing draw a small black rectangle from within itself, from what seemed to be its hand. They watched it raise the rectangle to what, as far as Harry could figure, was its head. Then what was presumably its mouth began to issue an odd waspish voice, of which they could understand nothing.

"What the hell…" Dean was peering at the rectangle.

"What?" Neville's voice shook, "What is it?"

"It's a goddamn _Iphone!"_

Seamus's whipped around to look.

"4S?"

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><p>As it just so happens, Nico was on the other side of the call, issued by what was not an Iphone 4S, because Hades found Siri annoying; he'd told nico she sounded too much like Persephone.<p>

_Well, what did he expect other than marriage problems?_ Nico had thought to himself. _I mean, that is what happens when you go around having children with random Italian women._

Anyway, Nico was falling down the rabbit hole when his phone vibrated. He pulled it out and picked up.

"Hello?"

The unintelligible murmuring on the other side confirmed that it was a wreath.

"Yes, what do you want?"

Murmurs.

"You're there, okay. Is that all?"

Murmurs.

"Alright, you can leave now. I'll take care of it. And for Zeus's sake, turn off the godsdamn alarm!" Nico hung up. He hadn't bothered asking the wreath for information. Who knew what it would do? The wreaths had already risked exposure of Nico's infiltration plan, thanks to Percy. He sighed, just as his feet hit the ground. Nico shook his head to clear it, and walked into the Accounting lobby. A dark-suited man wearing sunglasses hovered at the front desk.

"Can I help you?" The man asked, not sounding very helpful at all.

"Yeah. I'd like to see the death records for London and surrounding areas,"

The man sneered.

"Well, little boy, I can't show those to just anyone, now can I? Are you even dead?" The man looked at Nico as if he were a stupid child.

Nico looked at the man as if he were a stupid child.

"Just show me the records." He said, his voice cold and hard.

"I don't think so."

Nico slapped his hand on the black marble counter, his ruby skull ring glinting. He watched the man's eyes widen as he recognized the ring; it was common knowledge within the Underworld that the wearer of the ring was the son of Hades- not only that, but to wear the ring, the demigod had to be extremely powerful.

"And _I_ think," Nico growled, "that _you_ thought wrong," The darkness in Nico's eyes would have frightened the bravest of men.

"Right this way," squeaked the receptionist. He led Nico through a doorway and down a hallway into a massive library. Nico was barely listening as the man pointed out the record books for different types of deaths and the new program recently installed on the computers for 'quickly and efficiently finding all kinds of death!'. When the man started describing the 'quick death' search button, Nico strode to the line of computers along the wall. When he glanced back, the man was still talking to the floor-he had been too afraid to look at Nico after he'd seen the ring.

Nico scanned his ring at the computer's identification pad. He clicked on the 'Death Browser' icon (killer-speed internet!) and looked around while he waited for it to open. There were shelves upon shelves of records, millions of years' worth of death. Nico shook his head. It blew his mind. Not literally, of course. Nico had no desire to be added to the most recent Kindle publication of death. Copyrighted 2011.

He turned back to the computer. He clicked on 'browse by location'. A map came up and he clicked on England. He observed the map. There were small blips all around-Nico ignored these. Souls reborn into ghostly lives sometimes appeared on death maps- a glitch in the system he would have to tell his father about. A large circle bleeped somewhere in the countryside. Nico clicked on it, and the link led him to a list of the largest concentrations of illegal deaths. Again, several ghosts, and some illegally reborn souls which Nico made a mental note to take care of later. He scrolled up to the top five cheatings of death. The first was located somewhere in the English countryside, right near the border to Scotland. Nico clicked on it.

"Malfoy Manor…" he muttered to himself. He went back to the list, and clicked on the second link. There appeared to be fragments of death here.

"seven illegal pieces of death," murmured Nico, reading the listed statistics to himself. "Where's the largest piece?" He continued to read,

Nico smirked. "I'm going to Scotland."

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><p>The alarm shut off just as Hermione burst into the dorm, only to see five teenage boys in various states of undress huddled together staring at the window, at…nothing. Hermione's brows furrowed in confusion; then in surprise, as she noticed how fit Seamus was. Her book about boys had not told her how good guys looked shirtless. Dean wasn't bad either. Actually, he was the opposite of bad. He was as good as Seamus. She was wondering what they did to get such fine-ass bodies when Harry turned around.<p>

"Hermione!"

She started, and hurriedly jerked her gaze from Dean and Seamus as they turned their gazes to her.

"Uh…I was…just…um," Hermione stammered as she subtly wiped her mouth in case of drool. The five guys looked at her blankly. She realized once again that they were all half dressed.

"Shit!" Seamus said. "We're late, aren't we, 'Mione?"

'_Mione. He called me 'Mione! Oh God he's so hot._

"Uh...I have to go!" Hermione ran out of the room-she had to double-check her book on boys!

Harry blinked. "That was…odd." He glanced at the clock. "Oh, we still have half an hour,"

Ron made an odd choking sound. "The sausages are gonna be gone!" he yelled, and charged into the bathroom, followed closely by the others, spurred into action by the prospect of no sausages.

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed it! I wrote a longer chapter to make up for the crappiness of previous chapters and my disappearance. Look out for another chapter soon! Oh yeah, and let me know what house you think Nico and Percy should be in…I think I'll start a poll on my profile…hmmm. Oh yeah, please review. Oh, forget manners. REVIEW OR ELSE NO COOKIES!<strong>

**-toxicjade**


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh. Oh my. I haven't updated for 5 months, have I? That's what you were all trying to tell me with all the alerts and favorites and everything. Thanks for those, by the way. Uh, yeah, so I have a couple more chapters typed out, and I'm just going with the flow right now, trying to get back into the habit of writing, so sorry if these seem like fillers-they're not really supposed to be. On another note, my hits have been getting less each chapter. Is my writing quality going down? Help me out here, guys! I've got a poll on my profile for Percy and Nico's houses. I'm going with the whole you get what you want thing. Also, I've realized that, for me at least, its really hard to read the stuff on , so if you didn't know, on the top right corner of the story, by the update date, there are a whole lot of options for line spacing, font, font size, etc, so go ahead and optimize those. Hope you enjoy, and remember POLL! (And reviews, but that's a given).**

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><p>The comic books have it all wrong, in case you didn't know. Nico was much more epic and bad-ass than any of those pathetic superheroes. Like, Captain America? What kind of discrimination is this? What about Canada? That is why Nico refused to confine himself to any particular area. He was just the King of Ghosts. A pretty epic name, if he did say so himself. This was Nico's train of thought as he pretended to listen to some odd group of girls in front of Percy's cabin. He looked at their shirts. 'The Green Eyes Appreciation Fan Club'. Nico wondered why they'd chosen Percy of all people, to 'appreciate'. Over the years he'd learned that no matter how many times one saves the world, he or she will not be elevated to popularity. He squinted at the girls, and realization struck him. Castoffs. These were the pathetic newbies who fancied themselves extremely talentedpowerful/awesome. Never mind they were mostly Aphrodites and Demeters, with a couple of the stupider Irises thrown in.

Nico decided to set them straight before they were permanently expelled from camp society. "You know Percy's not even popular, right? Well liked, sure, but if you want to make a name for yourselves, go 'appreciate' those people over there," Nico pointed at a group of gossiping campers by the big house; No-namers in the hero world, unknown by any of the gods or monsters, but very well known and important in the Camp Half-Blood status system.

The girls stared. Nico sighed and decided they were hopeless idiots. This didn't mean much, because by Nico's standards, most people were. He threw off his hood and made for the door. There was a squeal by his left ear.

"Oh. Em. GEE! Girls, that's Nico Da-Angel!"

Nico 'Da- Angel' was momentarily thrown off by this statement. He quickly recovered himself, though, and threw the girl a glower, coupled with a crippling sneer. However, it did not have the intended effect, as the girl appeared to swoon, then began batting her eyelashes so quickly it looked like she was having a retinal seizure. The girls swarmed closer.

Nico started. He backed slowly and cautiously toward Percy's cabin door, thoroughly confused and more than a little frightened. His back hit the door just as Percy opened it a crack. Nico turned and caught a glance of Percy's terrified green eyes before he pulled Nico quickly into the cabin.

The two of them threw their backs against the closed door, both panting, their eyes wide open, looking rather like a pair of cornered animals.

"What _was_ that?" Nico demanded of Percy. Percy looked at him and shook his head, looking extremely bewildered and quite harassed.

"I don't know," He whispered, sounding close to tears. "They've been out there since you left yesterday. I don't know why!" A heavy thump sounded on the door, and the two demigods flinched and flew backwards into a corner, heads down for protection against whatever the rabid girls outside Percy's cabin were doing.

A moment passed.

Nico looked up at Percy from a gap between his fingers. Percy's eyes were screwed shut, and he was on the ground curled up in a fetal position.

Another thump sounded at the door.

Nico followed Percy's example, bringing his legs up to his chest and his hands over his head.

A scream sounded at the door, and Percy and Nico were hard-pressed not to answer with their own squeals.

The door shook.

Percy whimpered.

Grover opened the door and walked in.

*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()

Harry's head slipped off his hand and hit the table with a rather menacing bang, followed by a crack that did not bode well for anyone. He moaned. "Merlin, why meee?"

Ron glanced over and shook his head in agreement.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I wish Snape was here,"

Harry groaned in affirmation, still prodding his skull. Hermione looked at the two of them and shook her head disapprovingly. Ron continued, "This person is horrible. I mean, why in the world would you bring a picture of _Celestina Warbeck _to class? I mean, _Celestina Warbeck_, of ALL people!"

"Harry! Ron! Stop disrespecting him! This man was called from his normal duties, and I'm sure he's a very busy man, but he still took out time to substitute teach for us!" Hermione hissed.

Proffessor Snape was, as they say, out. So Albus had called in an old friend and 'beloved mentor' as he had announced at breakfast. The substitute professor's voice rang out:

"And so, when you open the door and see a rogue bunny wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocketwatch, the proper spell would be 'prohibere horologium!' Because this bunny obviously intends serious harm upon you-you can tell by the way the watch is ticking. So this spell stops the watch's ticking, and your problem is solved!"

Even Hermione's brow wrinkled at that.

"You see?" demanded Ron, "What on _earth_ is that supposed to mean?"

"Hey!" Seamus elbowed Hermione. "'Mione! What does that spell do?" he whispered.

"Oh, that spell is a simple incantation for," Hermione glanced at Seamus, and realized with a start who she was talking to. The image of Seamus in pajamas flashed through her mind. "for..uhh, well," Apparently not noticing Hermione's state, Ron interjected,

"Hey! You never let me and Harry call you 'Mione!"

Hermione silently thanked Ron for perhaps the first time in her life, for interrupting her undignified stuttering.

"But what is it for, _Her_mione?" Ron demanded. Hermione's gratitude disappeared in an irritated flash. Fixing her eyes securely on her parchment, she ground out, "It is for time nonanimus." Dean snorted.

"In English, please?"

Hermione started again. _Dean in pajamas…shirtless…in paja-_

"Miss Granger," The professor had interrupted her pleasant but inconvenient thoughts. She looked up, and was taken aback by the harsh gleam in the man's black eyes, matching his black suit. "Miss Granger, have you experienced one? Would you…_enjoy_, ahem…_experiencing _one?" The man's eyebrows wiggled disturbingly.

"I'm sorry, sir? I'm afraid I didn't quite catch the topic," Hermione confessed ashamedly. "What are we talking about, sir?"

The man's eyes twinkled menacingly, and Hermione suddenly saw why he was friends with Dumbledore.

"Why, Miss Granger. Rabbit holes, of course."

"Hey Percy, what is the world is-Percy? Nico? Are you two alright?" Grover looked incredibly concerned. Percy looked at him sharply.

Did you _see_ them outside?" he hissed fiercely. "Do we _look _alright?"

Grover furrowed his brow. "I-I don't understand. What's the problem? They all ran away as soon as I got near,"

Nico and Percy glanced at each other.

"Now that's just NOT fair!" Nico growled.

"Okay, he's not _that_ bad-looking!" Percy shouted over his cousin. Grover raised an eyebrow. He glanced between the two of them and shook his head as they continued to verbally abuse life.

"Look," he sighed when the two of them stopped to catch their breath. "I just came to tell you, Chiron wants you in the Big House. Something about…plans for school transfers." Nico jumped up.

Really?" he exclaimed. So Chiron had finally agreed to endorse the death project, huh? Nico stood and brushed the dirt off his black jacket. "Really Percy, you should clean up around here-you're ruining my jacket." Nico bounded over to Grover and slapped his back, suddenly cheerful as he pumped the satyr's hand vigourously. "Thanks, G-man! Alright guys," he winked at Grover and Percy, who looked taken aback at the Son of Hades's sudden levity. "I am OUT!" He strode out the room.

Grover looked at Percy. "What…what was that?"

Percy shook his head. "I have no idea." Nico's voice rang out from outside the cabin.

"Come on Percy, stop your idle chit-chat! We don't have all day!" he singsonged. Percy sighed.

"Later, Grover. Duty calls." He followed Nico out the room, towards the Big House.

Grover shook his head, but stopped mid-shake when he noticed something _rather_ interesting hanging out of Percy's bedside table. He rubbed his hands together and cackled maniacally. "Now _what_ do we have _here_, hmmm?"

The writer felt a sudden feeling of foreboding.

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><p><strong>Sooo. We meet again, review button. YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD LURE THE READERS IN WITH CANDY! Hmph. Seeing as how I can no longer rely on graphics to make you guys review, you'll have to do it yourself. And flame all you want, I have Leo. Remember-POLL!<strong>

**-toxicjade  
><strong>


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